On Texas Football’s Lunch with the Coach: Texas continues to improve, and must not rest on its laurels
On the latest video edition of On Texas Football’s Lunch with the Coach, Inside Texas’ Bobby Burton and former state championship-winning coach Bryan Erwin discuss the Longhorns’ dominating win over rival Texas Tech and what to expect this Saturday when No. 7 Texas plays No. 23 Oklahoma State for the Big 12 Championship.
Lunch with the Coach is sponsored by Laura Baker of the Andy Allen Team .
A win over the Cowboys will give Texas its first conference championship since 2009 and put it in line for a spot in the College Football Playoff.
Erwin, who coached La Marque to two titles after being a graduate assistant for Texas in the 1980s, said the Red Raiders really never had a chance while losing 57-7 in a game that could have been much worse because the Longhorns settled for five Bert Auburn field goals.
“The atmosphere that Chris Del Conte has created and that football team has created and the fans have created and the student body has created – it’s unbelievable,” Erwin said. “There’s a ton of excitement and just the crowd noise was unbelievable. I don’t think Tech had a chance. I mean, they just didn’t have chance. We engulfed them with the crowd and the team. Tech was just hit with an avalanche and we suffocated them pretty quickly. This team just continues to improve, and that’s what I like about it.
“Yeah, there’s still flaws. We just kicked the ‘mess’ out and Texas Tech, the ‘mess.’ And we kicked five field goals. You take three or four of those and turn them into touchdowns and you’re looking at 12 to 16 more points on top of 57. You just get the feeling we’re getting better and better, we are getting more confident and we’re executing our defense and getting faster and faster.”
Burton likened the Texas pass rush to an avalanche. “It was ‘Katy bar the door,’” Burton said. Texas’ defense just looked unstoppable.”
He asked Erwin how the Longhorns have become so dominant.
“Success is spelled W.O.R.K.,” Erwin explained. “Yes, there’s a lot of continuity but two things come to my mind. No. 1 is the players believing in their coaches and believing in the system and believing in themselves and believing in their teammates. And the trust factor that everybody’s gonna fit where they’re supposed to fit and do their job. That belief piece is there and then just good old fashioned hard work.”
Burton and Erwin lauded the production of Auburn, who has converted his last 19 field goal attempts, including a 54-yarder against Texas Tech.
“Auburn has absolutely turned things around, and I have no idea how,” Erwin said. “He’s been money and we have to credit the snapper and holder and the timing that’s been created by all their hard work and the coaching they’ve received.
Burton asked Erwin who he thought the MVPs were on offense and defense in the win over Tech. He cited receivers Xavier Worthy and Jordan Whittington on offense and the entire defensive line as his choices.
You will have to go check out the rest of the video for that breakdown and plenty of additional insights from Bobby and the coach.
